


Running To You With All I Have

by srendiipity



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hockey, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Mentions of homophobia, Mutual Pining, National Hockey League, Side other RP couples, Unrealistic Settings, but it's fanfiction so what is even real, hockey rpf - Freeform, mentions of Xenophobia, minor description of injuries, side dotae - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:29:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28350912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/srendiipity/pseuds/srendiipity
Summary: "You work here?""Yes" says the man, showing his ID. "I write about baseball" he extends his hand to shake, "Johnny Suh"."Ten Lee" responds Ten and shakes his hand. "I don't work here tho", he says with a laugh."Oh, I know" says Johnny and then blushes, "I do know who you are"."Hockey fan?" asks Ten with a smirk.Johnny laughs. "In general yes, I enjoy watching. But if you're asking why I know you, it's because my little cousin worships you.""Oh, here I thought that last season record of points was enough to make me famous in Canada" jokes Ten.or Ten meets Johnny by chance. The rest isn't really fate.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 20
Kudos: 111





	Running To You With All I Have

**Author's Note:**

> i said i didn't write RPF anymore but here we are... if you wish to know, I'm a Big Hockey Fan and i'm also a Johnten shipper which is how i ended up writing the two things I really like together. 
> 
> this is going to have A LOT of end notes to explain certain hockey terms, also I added some Hockey Real People (which,,, i wrote fanfic for them too) but i didn't tag them because I just didn't want to cross them :P. by now, I hope you realize how self-indulgent this fic was for me.
> 
> anyway, enjoy my favorite things in this drama-free fic. and thanks majo for reading and gabbs for being my beta once again!
> 
> title comes from the song of the same name by Bibi Zhou, but I was thinking of [Xiao Zhan's cover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgzKTZsqJI0&ab_channel=WeTVEnglish) of it instead.

He meets Johnny by chance. 

Ten is at Sportsnet for an interview, is a special program for one of his teammates that is retiring this season. The channel is looking for content and between all the guys, he’s the one who’s more comfortable with a camera in front of his face. 

Also, the PR team promised to give him a good costume for their Christmas promos if he did it, and he really doesn’t want to be a fucking elf again.

He’s waiting for the elevator when a voice calls him. 

“Hey” says a boy. He’s probably in his twenties and is wearing a very casual outfit. He has a credential around his neck which means he probably works here. “Is this yours?” he shows him a pair of keys that have a cat charm on it. 

“Oh, yeah”, Ten says. “Thank you man, I had no idea I lost them”. 

The man laughs. “It’s okay, it happens. You going down?”, Ten nods. "Me too" responds the boy.

Honestly, Ten is not the kind to make small talk but this guy just rescued him from having a breakdown over losing his keys and he's cute so there’s no harm in trying. He asks, "You work here?".

"Yes" says the man showing his ID. "I write about baseball" he extends his hand to shake, "Johnny Suh". 

"Ten Lee" Ten replies and shakes his hand back. "I don't work here tho", he says with a laugh. 

"Oh, I know" says Johnny and then blushes, "I do know who you are".

Ten smiles. He's in Canada, specifically in the SportsNet building, and Ten is known either for his background or that he's actually good at hockey. Is still cute when someone tells him.

"Hockey fan?" asks Ten with a smirk because he's not above chirping and teasing a journalist.

Johnny laughs. "In general yes, I enjoy watching. But if you're asking why I know you, it's because my little cousin worships you." he answers truthfully.

"Oh, here I thought that last season's record of points was enough to make me famous in Canada" jokes Ten. 

"Nah, it's actually you being the hero for six-year olds", continues Johnny with the joke. "Sorry to break it to you".

The elevator doors open just as Ten lets out a laugh. Both of them enter while still laughing. 

"For real man", says Johnny. "I'm sure you're the hero of every Toronto kid right now, but also, I do work here. Not difficult to know who you are"

"Thank you", says Ten with a sincere smile. He doesn't give a lot of those. "I should ask you to say that in a video so my sister believe I'm a true hockey player"

"Sure, I can even say my credentials to make it legit", responds Johnny with his chill aura like this is all real. The smile on his lips betray him. 

Ten laughs again just as they reach the lobby. 

"Well, Johnny Suh, thank you for this very entertaining elevator ride" says Ten. 

"You're welcome. I'm glad to make elevator rides more enjoyable" Johnny says with a smile. Ten realizes that he looks even better smiling. 

"Catch you later!" finally says Ten and leaves the building before he starts having other thoughts. Better to keep yourself away from pretty boys, that's his first rule. The one he can't forget.

Ten gets home and has his usual meal before taking Bella out for a walk. If he thinks about Johnny’s smile during the rest of the day, well that’s for him to know.

* * *

The meeting with the Cute Reporter, as he likes to call it, stays on his mind for some days before being erased by the hell training schedule he has. The season is less than a month away and the exhibition games are starting in a week so he doesn’t have the mental capacity to think about other things outside of “food” and “sleep”. 

This is the reason why his first post-game interview he doesn’t realize who the media guys are until a very tall presence asks, “What do you think you were missing during the first period?” 

Ten looks up immediately and finds Johnny, the baseball journalist, there. Asking questions to him. In a damn hockey game. What the fuck.

Fortunately, hockey players are trained to give the same boring response every time. It’s a thing, they have to learn how to respond without saying _ ‘we fucking suck _ ’. So he gives the standard answer about getting their feet warmed and then rushes through the next questions. 

When Kun, their PR and life savior signals for the press to leave, Ten sneaks out and calls, “Johnny Suh!”

Said man turns around and when he sees him, blushes. “Hey” says the man, way too chill for someone blushing if Ten is completely honest. 

“Fancy seeing you here, Mr. Baseball Reporter” Ten says, obviously trying to get an answer as to why Johnny is currently covering hockey.

“Ah” Johnny touches the back of his head out of embarrassment. “I guess is Mr. Hockey Reporter for the next two months. I’m covering for Jennifer.” 

Ten frowns, he knows the reporters well, he sees them almost daily after all. “Is she okay?” 

“Yes, don’t worry” Johnny assures him. “She had a baby, so she’s on leave for some months”

“Wait, she was pregnant?” Ten asks. The last time he saw Jennifer was back in June when the Toronto Dinos were eliminated of the playoffs. She didn’t seem pregnant back then but again, Ten was kind of not there mentally so maybe he didn’t notice.

Johnny laughs. It’s a full on laugh and Ten is aware that it’s probably at him and not with him, but is a nice laugh so he’ll let it pass. “She was very pregnant” Johnny says, still laughing. 

“I guess I’m not the most aware person, eh?” says Ten with a smile. 

Johnny smiles back. “I’ll cut you some slack because back in May she didn’t look that pregnant. But yeah, she had a baby and the guy who was going to cover hockey left and the next best person was apparently me. So, here I am, I guess” 

“Wow, Sportsnet must be in a crisis if their best person was someone who knows about me by their nephew” chirps Ten. 

“Worst crisis in Sportsnet since Gretzky retired” Johnny answers solemnly.

Ten laughs, because apparently that’s a thing he does when Johnny is around. “Are you even allowed to joke like this about your job?” 

Johnny shrugs. “As long as I write, they don’t care much what I say about them”

Ten nods. “Very capitalist. Sounds fun” 

Johnny is about to answer when the locker room door opens and Yuta comes out. He glances at them, raises one eyebrow at Ten and then goes to their working out room. Ten is fucked. 

“Ah, I have to go” Ten says, because he really has to go to cool down and because he needs to do damage control with Yuta. 

“Oh, yeah, of course” responds Johnny and then gives him a small smile. “I’ll see you around?” 

Ten smiles back. “Yeah, I work here”

The other man snorts. “Bye, Ten”

Ten waves and then enters the locker room for his stuff and runs back to their working out room, where Yuta is stretching in ways normal people shouldn’t. That’s goalies for you, he guesses. 

“Hey” Ten says as he settles besides him, trying to stretch too. He usually uses the treadmill but he will sacrifice it today for the upcoming interrogation. 

“Who’s the guy?” Yuta asks right away with a smirk. This is Ten’s fault, he befriended him three years ago when he was traded to Toronto without knowing that’d be his best choice and worst mistake. 

Ten sighs. “You could pretend you’re not a gossip for five seconds” 

“Nah, you know I’m dying to ask” responds Yuta with a smile. The asshole. 

“He’s a Sportsnet journalist. I met him when I went to record the interview for Woodsy last month” answers sincerely Ten. 

“You looked way too cozy there” keeps teasing and Ten asks higher deities to give him patience because he can’t injure their goalie, coach would kill him and then bench him for a month. 

“I barely know him” he says, “He’s not even a hockey journalist, he’s covering for Jennifer, that’s why I talked with him” 

“Oh? She gave birth then?” 

“You knew she was pregnant?”

Yuta looks at him weirded out. “You didn’t? Dude, what the fuck” 

They proceed to have a ten-minute fight over why Ten is the most oblivious person on earth. The topic of Johnny isn’t brought up until they’re in the parking lot. 

“Hey” Yuta says before entering his car. “You should keep talking with the journalist. I can see that you like him” 

Ten gives him a small smile but says, “As a friend” 

Yuta sighs but doesn’t push it, only nods at him and enters his car. Ten does the same and drives home, trying hard to not think about Johnny and his conversation with Yuta. He fails.

* * *

Here is the thing: Ten is gay, he has known for a long time. But he’s also a hockey player, one that is already talked about for his “unusual” background. There’s a lot of xenophobia mixed on his career and overall, he isn’t very enthusiastic about adding homophobia. 

Ten was born in Thailand. He grew up in private schools and joined the hockey team for fun. It turns out that even when he’s small, that’s a good thing for velocity, that’s how he ended up being the fastest forward on all his teams. 

In no time, he was scouted by their national team and won the Asia Championships and eventually could join the Junior World Cup. Very fast, people started talking about him and the NHL, phrases like “First Thai Player in the NHL” were often seen in articles and for a while, Ten didn’t believe it. 

But then, the NHL invited him to his Draft Combine Testing. It was real, people were considering him to play in the biggest hockey league, the fucking National Hockey League. He said yes right away. 

In the end, he was drafted fifth overall by the Toronto Dinos, becoming the first Thai kid playing for the NHL. 

If by miracle or necessity, Toronto let him play in the big league right away and play he did. He got the most assists of his team during his first season, which got him a bunch of fans and a ton of assholes too. He didn’t get the Calder but it was a close run. 

Since his first season six years ago, he had established himself as a top player not only in Toronto, but the whole league. People don’t question him as much anymore for his background, he can finally do what he loves: play hockey. 

And life would be perfect if it weren’t that even after all, he’s still gay. 

It’s truly not a secret: his parents know, the guys on the team also know but Ten doesn’t like to talk about his private life, the only thing on his social media are his pets so no, the league doesn’t know about it. 

Ten wants to knock himself out. A pretty journalist shouldn’t be a reason why he’s suddenly reconsidering his whole life. Sure, he has a good sense of humor but a man shouldn’t ever be the reason of something in his life. He hates himself a little for this train of stupid thoughts.

So what if Ten is lonely? Sue him for thinking about the cute guy, still, it should be just in his head, not a real thing because the NHL might have open the doors to Asian players but the amount of LGBT members is still in one digit, which fucking sucks when you’re one. 

Yes, Johnny Suh is cute and the perfect prospect but Ten is still in the NHL closet. What he told Yuta is true: he can only talk to him as a friend, because any other option is not one Ten is ready for. 

* * *

Their next game is in Buffalo, which is good because it’s close enough that they’re not that tired but far that he isn’t going to cross with Johnny. It’s a needed time to stop thinking about his emotions and focus on the simple: hockey. 

They go to Montreal afterwards and come back for a home game. They win that one which is good because Coach Johnson isn’t going to make them do suicides so close to the opening of the season. To add, Kun leaves him free of media, which means he can shower and go home with his pets. 

He’s already back on his suit when he jumps into Johnny again. 

“Nice fit” says Johnny as a greeting, which is kind of teasing because the last two times they saw each other Ten was in either sweats or still with some of his hockey gear on. Right now, he’s wearing a gray suit, so you could say is a change.

Ten smiles. “I know how to dress for game day” 

“Should I start checking your past outfits to confirm this?” asks Johnny. 

“If you’re looking for embarrassing suits, you’re not going to find them. Some of us actually have style” says Ten, which is kind of true. He’s one of the guys with better fashion taste, perhaps not as good as Jungwoo but he’s at the top. 

“Does that mean that I can ask questions about your outfit during media?” 

“Please do, I’m sure you’ll have more fun writing about that than the same three usual answers” says Ten. 

Johnny smiles. “So you admit you have three answers for everything?” 

Ten snorts. “Was that a secret? I’m sure every hockey fan on Twitter makes jokes about it”

“They sure do” says a voice behind Ten making him jump. 

“Shit Nazer, don’t do that” complains Ten. 

“What? Walk to the parking lot?” says Yuta with a smirk. 

“No, I mean do that weird thing you goalies do”

Yuta frowns. “What weird thing? Why it’s always ‘the goalies weird thing’ and never ‘the goalies fast skills’?” The boy turns to Johnny and says, “You should write an article about that” 

Johnny is visibly startled by this, but he’s an obvious fast thinker because he responds right away. “I think my editor would choose ‘Goalies weird thing’ dude. It’s a good clickbait” 

“I don’t get any respect in this house” says Yuta smiling. 

“You’re a weirdo” says Ten. 

Yuta ignores him and turns to Johnny. “You should go out with us for a drink” 

Ten looks at him in panic. The fuck is he doing? 

“Um” Johnny says eloquently. “I have to finish this article” he points at the recorder on his hand. 

“Oh, I don’t mean today”, keeps going Yuta. “Our last pre-season game is next Saturday, you should join us afterwards” 

“If you want and can, of course” says Ten, because Yuta already got this far and the least he can do is try to be decent.

The other man looks at him and nods. “Yeah, that’d be cool. I can uh, meet you wherever you’re going?” 

Before then can say anything, Yuta nods. “Ten can give you his number so we tell you once we have a plan”. 

The boy is not even fucking subtle because right after, he says bye and walks to his car, leaving Ten there with a situation he didn’t ask for. Ten is going to fucking shoot him to die during practice tomorrow. 

“That’s a goalie for you”, Ten says as a way to explain whatever just happened. “You don’t have to go if you’re not comfortable. It’s not like we go crazy, we just have some drinks and then go home.” 

Johnny smiles at him. “It’s fine, Ten. I think we can discuss more about your fashion choices that way” 

Ten smiles back, because that’s what he does when Johnny smiles now. “Cool” 

They exchange numbers and then leave their own ways. Once Ten is inside his car he texts Nazer an image of a cat with a knife. 

Yuta sends him three stickers laughing. The asshole. 

* * *

They won both games, even if the last one was in overtime. Technically these games don’t count, but their coaches are going to give them extra tape to watch if they lose, so it’s a good thing they scrap wins. 

He got three assists and so he gets media duty, Ten doesn’t fight it because he knows Kun isn’t going to change his mind. 

This time Ten notices Johnny, he smiles to everyone because that’s the polite thing to do and no, it’s not directed at Johnny. 

For the first questions is the same thing as usual, and when Kun signals that they have one question left, Johnny comes forwards. “I noticed today you wore a three-piece suit, is that going to be a staple this season?” 

Some of the other media people laugh. It’s not uncommon to ask this kind of thing but today it seems a little random. For everyone except for Ten, of course. 

“I think so. My mom sent me some suits recently and I think most are three-piece so you can judge them in the upcoming weeks”, answers Ten. 

Johnny smiles. “I’ll look forward to it”

With that, Kun signals him to go but whispers to him before he leaves. “Having fun?”. Ten rolls his eyes and leaves to make his routine. 

The plan to meet Johnny is actually simple. They’ll see him at a bar downtown that they frequent, so they know it’s good and private. Most of the guys who are going live not too far, so they can leave their cars at home and just Uber to the bar. 

Only the younger kids are going, that’s to say Mark, Yuta, Jungwoo, Sungchan, someone is probably going to drag Jisung. The only older guys going are Kappy, Willy, Matts and Mitch, because they think “bonding” is important. They’re all cool with bringing an extra friend, even if it’s a journalist. Hockey players know better than anyone what it’s to leave your work behind. 

The guys enter the bar and Ten stays outside to wait for Johnny, who comes only some minutes later, in almost the same clothes he had before except with a different jacket. He looks good and Ten hates it a little. 

“Hey man” says Ten as greeting. 

“Did you wait too much?” asks Johnny. 

“No, we just arrived. Let’s go inside before the team starts ordering weird drinks” 

They enter the bar which is a mix between a club and a bar. It’s weird but it works for them, specially when they’re not planning on drinking to death. So close to the start of the season, no one is going to risk it. 

“I was half expecting to see you in a suit” Johnny says as they walk. 

I don’t go to bars in suits” answers Ten.

Johnny shrugs. “I have only see you in hockey gear or a suit, I wasn’t sure how you dress normally” 

Ten stops and takes a step back so Johnny can see his outfit. Even in the low lights of the place, is still visible the black jeans, simple shirt and a jean jacket. It’s not much but it looks good enough for the bar. “How am I doing?” 

Johnny seems to think it seriously. “Minimalistic. Simple but looks good.” he nods as in approval.

“Is this a fashion evaluation?” asks Ten while he keeps walking to the table with nine, very loud, hockey players. 

“Yes. I got the award for best dressed in my work team and I take the title very serious”

Ten lets a laugh out. “Are you thinking of writing about fashion? Vogue sounds like a good place to start” 

“Nah” Johnny says with a smile. “I think I like sports better” 

Ten needs to stop looking at Johnny’s smile so he turns his head to the front. He prefers to see the disaster that his team is already in. 

As expected, Willy is trying to convince Sungchan to try a weird drink he had the last time he came here. Sungchan and Jisung are their rookies this season and therefore need to be saved because everyone knows that Willy only knows drinks that threaten your life.

“Sunny, don’t listen to him. His taste is terrible” Ten says before he’s even on his seat. 

“Like you can talk” replies Willy. 

Ten makes a face at him and then ignores him to introduce the boy next to him. “Guys, this is Johnny he’s, uh, my friend”. They have meet three times but he supposes they’re friends. 

“Hey” says the man as a greeting. 

The rest of the team says hi and then make place for the two of them. Mark immediately leans and says. “You’re the new journalist, right?” 

Johnny nods. “Yes, but I’m only covering for Jennifer since she’s on maternity leave” 

“She finally had her baby? That’s so cool” Mark exclaims. 

“You knew too?” asks Ten, because there’s no fucking way that Mark realized she was pregnant and he didn’t. No way. 

Johnny snorts besides him as Mark says. “Everyone knew dude, I’m sure at the end of the season Mo even gave her a present” 

Ten drops his head on the table in regret. 

“He had no idea she was pregnant.” Johnny explains.

“Man, you’re the most oblivious person I know” responds Mark. 

Ten turns his head so he can look at the two boys. “I hate it here so much”.

  
  
  


Having Johnny with his teammates is weird, not because it’s awkward but because he fits too well with them. They talk about sports, some ask about being a journalist, they all have drinks and discuss stories from the summer. It’s nice, having Johnny there is nice.

After a while, when some of the guys have already left, Johnny turns to him and says, “You sound awfully Canadian” 

Ten looks at him in horror. “Take that back” Johnny laughs out loud. “I’m serious, don’t say that kind of thing” 

“Dude, you said ‘eh’ at least 10 times since we got here. I’m sorry to break it to you but six years in Canada are making you one of them” Johnny teases. 

“You’re exaggerating. There’s no way,” says Ten. If he keeps this up, his sister is going to drag him into hell. “I learnt British English in school, I can’t suddenly speak Canadian” 

“Well, you speak in combination but it’s not a big deal” shrugs Johnny. 

“Where are you from?” asks Ten, because it just occurred to him that he doesn’t know. “I’m guessing not from Canada” 

Johnny shakes his head. “I’m from Chicago, born and raised”

“Wow, surely not close from here” says Ten. 

“Yeah” Johnny says, “I came here for college, then got an internship and afterwards I just stayed. It’s not Chicago but Toronto isn’t bad” 

Ten nods. “It’s really not bad” 

Johnny waits a beat and then asks, “Is it hard for you? I can go down and visit my parents quickly but Thailand…” 

Ten shakes his head because it’s difficult to explain. “A little. I go and see my family some weeks during the summer. The rest of the time I just skype my parents and my sister a lot. It’s not perfect but we try to make it work.”

There’s silence for a moment.

“Well, I guess if you ever miss them and want to distract yourself, you have a friend that can help you” says Johnny, too casually to actually be casual. 

Ten turns to look at him. Johnny’s eyes are lighter than brown, they make Ten want to trust him. “A friend?” he asks. 

Johnny shrugs. “You said it first, no take backs” 

Ten laughs. “Yeah, I guess I have a really good friend”. 

They get distracted by the rookies right after, but Ten’s chest feels warm. It’s a weird feeling and he doesn’t want to stop having it any time soon.

* * *

Ten can’t explain how it happens, it just does. Perhaps it was the weird bonding over beer at a loud club with too much people but Johnny and him really become friends. 

The season starts the next Wednesday and Ten gets a text right before his afternoon nap. It’s not much just  _ “Wear a cool suit & hope u have a good game :P”  _ but it makes him smile. He texts back,  _ “I’ll wait your fashion evaluation today” _ . 

They win against Ottawa, 5 to 3, and it’s great because they’re at home and there’s nothing like winning the first game of the season in Toronto. It makes every sacrifice to be there worth it. 

He gets media duty, and he actually makes a face to Kun but their PR just raises his eyebrow and signals for him to walk. You can’t fight him, but Ten hopes this means he’s off duty the next three games at least. 

Johnny is there, of course, and he actually does ask him a boring hockey question before he actually drops the interesting stuff. “Ten, I just want to inform you that fans think your green suit really compliments your skin tone”. 

The guys of media and the locker room laugh, and it’s going to be a field day between Nanas and Hollzy, but Ten can’t fucking lose so he says, “Thanks, I’ll take it into account for the next time I buy one”. Everyone is happy, they got a win and if they tease Ten, it’s going to be just funny. 

Once he ends his media, he goes for a shower, and it’s not until he’s ready to go home that he notices Johnny is still in one of the media rooms with a frustrated face. 

Ten knocks on the door and asks. “Everything okay?” 

Johnny turns to see him and smiles but it’s a very frustrated one. “The site is acting up. I was supposed to be done fifteen minutes ago but our page just doesn’t want me to go sleep today”.

Ten winces. “Is there anything you can do? Call your boss?” 

Johnny shakes his head. “We all have the same problem. They told me it should be fine soon but I’m not sure about it” 

“I can keep you company while you wait?” offers Ten. 

“Bro, you must be exhausted” says Johnny, which is true but Ten doesn’t have to say it.

“It’s fine, it’s not like I have to do a lot, just sit here and stop you from murdering your computer” Ten gives him a smile, hoping that a joke can lift his mood.

Johnny laughs a little and slumps in his seat. “I can’t afford another laptop” then he adds. “But maybe I can throw my phone, I need to change it anyway”

Ten takes Johnny’s phone from the table. “Nope, nothing is going to break today” 

They keep talking for ten minutes before Johnny’s computer makes a sound, marking that his note has been uploaded. “Thank fucking god!” he says and then closes his laptop. 

Ten gets up and waits while Johnny packs up his stuff. They have to go through different exits so it makes no sense to wait for him, but there’s no one here to call him out on that. 

Once they’re at the door, Johnny says, “Thank you. You didn’t have to stay”

The forward shrugs. “You make media duty interesting, take this as me paying the entertainment” 

Johnny laughs. “I mean it about green being your color” 

“Wasn’t that a comment by the fans?” asks Ten. 

“Doesn’t mean I don’t agree with them” Johnny turns and starts walking to the exit. “See you next game!” 

“See ya!” exclaims Ten before going to his car. He doesn’t realize he’s smiling until halfway on his route to home. 

* * *

It’s not a one time thing. 

The team travels to Columbus for their next game, and then they come back to Toronto for a three home-game stand. Every afternoon he gets a message from Johnny wishing him good luck. At night, he’ll give him commentary on his suit or send a stupid video if they lose. 

Ten hates how much he likes it.

When Ten is on media duty and Johnny is there too, the question about his suit election never miss. It’s kind of a joke now, and Johnny told him that his editor finds the fashion evaluation hilarious, so he can keep asking it if no one complains. Ten could never argue it.

Kun calls him on it halfway through the month. 

“Are we going to talk about your excitement to have media duty are you going to ignore it like you ignore your injuries?” asks the man when Ten goes to his office for his recording schedule. 

“I don’t ignore my injuries” lies Ten.

“I could bring your X-rays from the last end of the season, if you want to lie like that” Kun says with a smile. He’s terrifying. 

Ten sighs and sits in front of him. May as well surrender, no one wins against Kun. “I feel like you should’ve been a lawyer”, he comments.

“I’m pretty good at detecting bullshit, but I think that’s an acquired ability from working with hockey players” 

Ten makes a face at him. “What do you want?” 

“Should I be aware of any situation going with the Sportsnet reporter?” Kun asks without preamble.

"No" answers Ten.

"Too quick" Kun leans on his seat. "I want you to take a moment and think: is there any situation I should know of?" 

"Kun, no" says Ten, because is the truth, there's nothing at least not how Kun is implying. "He's my friend"

Kun snorts. "You have three friends"

Ten gasps. "I have many friends!" 

Kun ignores the comment and says. "Listen, I'm serious. You know this team would have your back, that Dubas and everyone in management would support you in anything regarding your personal life" 

Ten sighs and then answers, "I know. But I swear that there is no situation. He's just my friend"

Kun looks at him, sighs and nods. “Okay, but I mean it. If anything ever comes up, tell me first thing, okay?” Ten nods. “Cool, now let’s go through your schedule so we can go eat because I’m starving” 

Ten laughs and listens to Kun diligently. They don’t talk about Johnny or his non-existent love life, but he feels like the other guy is extra attentive the rest of the day.

* * *

If Ten is being sincere, Toronto is not the best team out there. When he was drafted, Toronto was at the bottom of the standings, and now six years later they’re way better but still have lots of problems with keeping it consistent. This means that sometimes they lose a lot, and very badly. 

They lose two games at home, one in shootout which makes it feel decent. Then they go on a three game roadie and they lose all of them, including Chicago who scores six goals against their loner one courtesy of Nanas. It fucking sucks. 

He gets to his hotel room and honestly, he’s not expecting a text from Johnny. He still sends him a text before game but not after, not the last hard ones. This is Chicago, his hometown team, so he’s surprised when he sees three texts once he’s in his room. 

**Johnny**

_ “I was going to be a kpop star, or at least that’s what I wanted when I was a teenager” _

_ “I’m working on the idea that you know what’s kpop but if you don’t, I can send you one video so you get the experience” _

_ “back to the story… I was a trainee for a company some summers, and it was a thing for a while”  _

Ten snorts. He has no idea why Johnny is telling him this but the idea of a younger Johnny doing dance for Kpop is truly… something. 

**Ten**

_ “Is this a joke?” _

_ “Also, OF COURSE I know Kpop, it was the biggest thing in Thailand when I was younger” _

**Johnny**

_ “glad to know i’m not the only one who saw that fever” _

_ “yes, this is a total real story. there’s probably some videos of me practicing during the summer in Korea. I still text some of the guys with whom I trained”  _

**Ten**

_ “NO WAY! You have to find those videos, I don’t want to see them, I NEED TO SEE THEM!” _

_ “does this mean you’re friends with famous people?!”  _

Ten sits on his bed while Mark uses the bathroom. They’re roadie roomies and Mark always takes the first turn in the shower because Ten can actually stay awake after a game. 

**Johnny**

_ “I’ll text my mom, see if she has photos.” _

_ “yeah, i have some famous friends. there’s this guy, he’s like a hockey star, you might know him, his name rhymes with pen”  _

**Ten**

_ “I will kick you” _

_ “I’m serious here, tell me who are your Kpop Stars friends”  _

**Johnny**

_ “It’s mostly guys from EXO, I was with them the most before I dropped out” _

**Ten**

_ “Why did you stop?” _

_ “wait, DO YOU SING?”  _

**Johnny**

_ “It took too much of me to be traveling every vacation. that and mom missed me too much, going that path meant leaving my family and I didn’t want it. eventually I decided journalism might not be bad so I’m here now” _

_ “and yes, I sing but not so much these days”  _

**Ten**

_ “Well, I’m glad you’re a journalist and that I meet you” _

_ “Will you ever consider singing to me?” _

“Ten!” says Mark. Ten looks at him startled. He didn’t realize Mark was done. “The shower is free now”

“Oh, thanks.” Ten takes his stuff, including his phone and gets in the bathroom. 

**Johnny**

_ “I’m glad I meet you too”  _

_ “singing… I’ll consider it. it’s been too long since I sang for someone other than myself”  _

**Ten**

_ “okay, as long as you consider it is fine”  _

Ten thinks it and then sends:  _ “Thank you for sharing this with me” _

**Johnny**

_ “Did my story made you laugh? at least distract you for a while?”  _

Ten replies with a yes. 

**Johnny**

_ “good” _

_ “that’s all I wanted” _

_ “go rest dude, sleep well”  _

**Ten**

_ “hope you rest well too :)” _

Ten showers in a daze. He feels like crying a little, and he isn’t sure if it’s the stress of the last few games or the fact that someone, that  _ Johnny _ , took the time to share a personal story just to distract him from the absolute horror that the night is. 

When he gets out of the shower, Mark is already on his bed, but somehow still awake. 

“Don’t overthink it” says Ten. 

“What?” asks Mark, frowning. 

“I know you’re thinking about the game, so stop. Go to sleep and be ready for tomorrow’s practice” explains Ten. 

“Whoever was texting you told you that?” says with a smile Mark, because he might be the next big center of this team but he’s still a hockey player, and will annoy like one too. 

“Fuck you dude” Ten says laughing, he’s already on his bed or he would throw him something. “This is advice from a veteran of this game, appreciate all my knowledge that I’m passing to you” 

Mark lets out a laugh. “You’re three years older than me, that doesn’t make you a veteran” he stops while he changes sleep position. “But thank you, I will sleep now”

Ten is setting up their alarms for the next day when Mark adds: “And thank whoever was texting you. Your face changed after you talked with them”.

Ten is speechless for a moment. He puts away his phone and decides to follow his own advice: stop thinking about it, focus on hockey tomorrow.

* * *

It’s a week before Halloween when Yuta suggests it. Because of course is Yuta, and of course he does it loudly in the middle of the locker room so he has to make a decision. 

“You should invite Johnny to the Halloween party” Yuta barely looks at Ten as he says it, and their lockers are separated by three people. It’s a damn trap. 

“Uh?” Ten pretends to think it. “It’s too close to Halloween, maybe he already has plans” 

“Oh, I like Johnny” says Jisung. Ten can’t even hold this against him because he doesn’t know this is Yuta being a little shit. “He doesn’t ask questions like I’m to blame about goals”. 

“I like that he asks Ten about his suits” says Mitchy who doesn’t know how to not enter a conversation. “I too want answers about his questionable fashion choices” 

Ten turns. “Excuse me, I think you don’t get to ever talk about my fashion. I still have photos of the fedora look” 

Mitch doesn’t even flinch. “It was A Look. Learn from the experts”

Before Ten gets to refute, Mark says, “You could ask him, it’s not like you won’t see him today, or don’t have his number”. He smirks and then leaves for the ice. 

Ten glares at him and thinks on ways to pester him during the next roadie. Fucking traitor. 

“Fine, I’ll ask” says Ten and follows Mark. 

Ten stays true to his word and signals Johnny to wait after media. The other man frowns but nods anyway, and stays in the hallway where they talked the first time Johnny was sent to cover hockey. 

The moment Ten steps out of the locker, Johnny asks, “Is something wrong?” 

Ten frowns. “No, why?”

“You asked me to stay”, explains Johnny.

“Can’t I just ask a friend to chat with me a little?”, Ten says even though he knows he would never do this unless, like now, he was trapped by his teammates. 

“No offense but you only have one sock right now” the older boy says while pointing at his feet. “You wouldn’t do this unless something was going on”

The player sighs. “It’s nothing big just… me and the team want to know if you would like to come to our Halloween Party” Ten replies without breathing. 

“Oh”

“You don’t have to come. It’s the next Thursday because we don’t have games until Saturday. But if you already had plans, you can say no, it’s not a big deal”. Is Ten rambling? Maybe, but no one is around to judge him. 

“No” says Johnny and then, “I mean yes? Uh or more like I don’t have plans” he too looks a little startled. “I would love to go”

“Oh, cool” says Ten. “Great, umm” Ten feels a little hot in the face. “It’s going to be at Matts house so I can pick you up? Or I can send you the address, whatever you like”

“Matts as in Matthews? That Matthews house?” asks Johnny.

“Yeah?” Ten isn’t sure why Johnny has such a shocked expression. “Is something wrong?”

“No, no, no” Johnny shakes his head. “Just… you know. I’m going to a party at the house of Toronto’s hockey savior. Cool”

Ten laughs. “Are you nervous about going to Matts house? You literally interview him every day and have gone out with before” 

“That’s different” says Johnny. “That’s my job, this is like actually I know him” 

“Aren’t you friends with superstars of Kpop?” Ten raises one eyebrow because he likes to tease Johnny about it. 

“Shut up” Johnny smiles. “Just, pick me up and tell me how to dress” 

“Oh shit” says Ten. “We have to wear costumes” 

“Did you just remember that? Is Halloween, isn’t it obvious?” questions Johnny.

“Okay, shhh” Ten says. “Give me until tomorrow while I think about a costume I haven’t done and that we can pull off in like a week. And before you even suggest it, no, we can’t just buy one from Party City. Hockey Halloween is serious” 

Johnny raises his hand in surrender. “Okay man, you’re the boss” 

Ten says bye and goes back to finish changing. He informs them that Johnny is going and then ignores the stupid smirk on Yuta’s face. He has more important things to think about than how good would it feel to punch a goalie. 

* * *

The annual Halloween Party for the Toronto Dinos is a big deal. It’s not a competition but it’s true that every player and significant others prepare for the occasion since no one wants to be the worst costume. 

Last year, Willy put a fucking show by going as Jack The Pumpkin King. He even hired a professional to put the makeup and bribed Kappy into dressing as Sally. They made an overused Halloween costume actually stand out and Ten is still bitter about it. 

This year, Ten doesn’t have the time to actually plan, what with him forgetting he had to have a costume ready and being a hockey player, so he goes and looks up in the “box of things he doesn’t know why he has”. He’s not kidding, his sister labeled it like that when he moved to this house. 

There’s not much but then he finds some old crowns and he gets an idea. 

**Ten**

_ “Can you put together a whole white outfit?”  _

**Johnny**

_ “I think so, why?” _

**Ten**

_ “Cause I have our costumes for next week” _

  
  
  
  


Ten doesn’t pick up Johnny because he actually insists on the guy coming to his house to prepare for Halloween. They’re not having the best costumes ever, but they’re coordinated and it’s kind of original so it works. 

“Okay so” says Johnny who’s currently sitting on Ten’s bathtub. “We’re Greek gods?” 

Ten nods. He’s putting a gold tiara on Johnny’s head. The other man has kind of long hair, so he’s trying to secure the tiara so it doesn’t fall when Johnny walks around. 

“So I’m Aphrodite and you’re?” 

“Dionysus” says Ten while pointing at the belt on his hip that has a bunch of fake grapes in it. “Okay, close your eyes” Johnny looks at him weirdly, so Ten adds. “I will put makeup on you” 

“You know how to do that?” asks the boy. 

Ten rolls his eyes. “I have a younger sister and she made me help her with makeup until I was fifteen. I’m not doing something complicated, just enough so people think I put effort in this” 

Johnny laughs but closes his eyes obediently. Ten had to buy makeup, actually, because the box didn’t have any, but he’s going to deny it if anyone asks. He’s halfway done when Johnny says, “I’m having the worst flashback to my Kpop training days”

“Did you wear a lot of makeup back then?” asks Ten.

“Not lots but they experimented with my face a lot. I think they wanted to see how much they could fix my face” 

“Your face has nothing to fix”, respond automatically Ten. “Terny, my sister, she used to tell me that makeup is to highlight your good features.”

“Are my eyes good features?” Johnny says it with a laugh, as if it was a joke. 

“Done” says Ten, and when Johnny opens his eyes he adds. “Yes, your eyes are definitely worth highlighting”

Ten doesn’t wait for an answer and leaves to look for his own flower crown for his costume. His face feels hot and he swears is the weather and not embarrassment. When Johnny comes to his living room, there’s also some red on his checks and Ten ignores it too, for his mental health mostly.

They decide for Ten to drive them to Matts’ house, mostly because he doesn’t plan to drink and that way he can drop Johnny to his house later.

Matts’ house is bigger than anyone else’s, in part because his family visits him a lot, he’s a family guy so he wants space for everyone. To add to that, since he became captain, he wants everyone to have a place if they need it. Ten spent a lot of time there on his first year. 

Some of the other guys are also arriving so he says hi and jokes about their costumes when he sees them. Inside, Matts and Mitch greet them dressed as Queen members, Yuta is also already there, dressed as witch and annoying Jisung. 

“You take your costume to heart, I see” says Ten as a greeting. 

Yuta turns and makes a face. “You know it baby. And what are you both? Just married?” he asks with a smirk.

Ten actually kicks him. “I’m Dionysus, you uncultured asshole” 

Yuta glares at him while touching his leg where Ten kicked him. “Are you getting drunk today?” 

“Nah, I’m staying sober so my costume is ironic” answers Ten. 

Yuta snorts and turns to Johnny. “I hope you know he’s not this smart, he’s only avoiding drinking so he doesn’t end up like three years ago” 

“What happened three years ago?” asks Johnny with interest. 

Before Yuta can talk, Ten pushes him and drags Jisung to the conversation. “Nuggs, you’re a little mouse, how cute!” Ten promises to give him a cool Christmas present for always dragging him into awkward conversations as a buffer. 

It goes like that for a while. They talk about their costume, why they choose them and joke about the meaning. There’s food, there're drinks and they just take photos, and do stupid stuff together. It’s great.

Johnny knows most of them from the locker room. They had drinks before but this time is a different environment because everyone feels comfortable, and they have the space to have a better talk, so the team ends up questioning Johnny about his life.

The boy also asks stuff, and sometimes he has direct questions to Ten about the weird dynamics of some of them. Like: “Why do you call Jisung, Nuggs?” 

“Cause he looks like a little chicken and Mark got reminded of chicken nuggets so now he’s Nuggs” explains Ten.

Johnny looks at him. “You are so weird with your nicknames” 

Ten can agree with that one.

It's some time later when Mitch and Matts drag him to do Karaoke with them. They said very loudly that he's their child and can't refuse, to which Ten says he's not a child but agrees to be ridiculed with them.

It's a pretty dramatic rendition of Livin' On a Prayer, which fits the three of them if Ten is honest. He's also sure that he's on at least three Instagram stories but what can he do, at least he knows most of the guys are putting it in private. 

When he's back to his seat, Johnny says, "I didn't know you could sing"

Ten laughs. "Karaoke singing is barely real singing".

Johnny shakes his head. "No dude, I mean it. You're a good singer, I can tell"

"Well, if the ex-kpop star says it, it must be true" Ten chirps. 

Johnny rolls his eyes and leaves it be. They're on one of the sofas from the corner, watching other guys sing but far enough so they can still talk. "You're really close with them, aren't you?" 

‘Them’ is Matts and Mitch. Ten knows he’s pretty close to his team, some members like Yuta and Mark are his best buddies but Matts and Mitch are different for him, Perhaps because they’re older and were there for him his first year but… 

“Yeah” says Ten. “When I was drafted, they made sure to give me a welcome here, Matts knew all about being a hockey player with an ‘unusual’ background so he helped me a lot to deal with that one and also…” Ten stops. 

Johnny turns to him, perhaps sensing that Ten is thinking about the next part of his sentence. “You don’t have to tell me” he says. 

Ten looks at him and says. “Let’s go out for air”. The other man nods, knowing that he needs it. 

Once they’re outside, Ten sits on the bench they have on the porch. It feels nostalgic, because he spent a lot of evenings in this house, on this bench, hoping for an answer that never came. Johnny sits beside him.

“You know, when my entry contract finished and Toronto asked me to renovate, I was so happy that I said yes right away.” recounts Ten. “Dubas laughed at me and said that it was better if I called my lawyer so we could work on the contract. It was a very easy decision for me, staying was the only thing I wanted” 

“Toronto is a great city, even more for hockey” responds Johnny.

Ten nods. “It is, but I didn’t stay for that.” He stops, takes a deep breath and keeps going. “In the NHL, the amount of out LGBT players is less than ten. Of those, two of them are on this team. The only couple or at least the only one out.” Ten is looking at the street. There’s no one outside at this hour. “When I was drafted here, I was relieved because I knew of all the problems I could bring, my sexual orientation wasn’t going to be one” 

Johnny lets out a little “Oh”. 

“Matts and Mitch were there for me, not only as their rookie but as their little brother. They talked to me about being out in this league, about what it was like, and they gave me a little hope. It’s not easy to make that decision, to put yourself out there like they did all those years ago, but they’re here, still being the elite of this team, and they’re married. Back then, that was all the hope I wanted” finishes telling Ten.

The night is quiet, even when the sounds of terrible singing can still be heard from inside the house. It’s calming and that’s what he loves about this neighborhood.

“Thanks for telling me this”, finally says Johnny. When Ten looks at him, the boy is looking at the street too. “I can’t imagine that kind of pressure on an eighteen-year-old kid.”

Ten laughs. “I was truly a child, I was so lost, that’s why I came here a lot. They seem like adults but they’re still a mess, it makes you feel better” 

Johnny laughs too. They fall into silence and Ten is going to say they should go back when the other man says. “I dropped Kpop for that reason too” Ten looks at him surprised. “Once, I talked with one of the older guys and he told me that he wasn’t sure how much he could follow the fame path and what implied. Korea is not the most accepting place yet, so I thought about it a lot. Was singing worth it? Worth leaving all my life? Worth my future? And when I realized it wasn’t, I just stopped” 

Ten process the information, wanting to says something meaningful but he ends up blurting, “It fucking sucks man”. 

Johnny lets out a laugh. “Yes, it fucking does”. 

They laugh about it, about how fucking stupid is having to choose your dream or your life, and how stupid is life that they’re here, together at 2am laughing in the porch of Toronto’s star hockey players. 

When they stop laughing, before they enter the house, Ten says, “Thanks for telling me too”.

Johnny shrugs. “What is Halloween if not a festivity to share depressive gay stories”. 

Ten smiles at him and enters the house once again.

* * *

Ten uploads the pictures from the Halloween party some days later and his sister calls him exactly three hours after it. 

“Hello?” 

_ “Who’s the boy in the picture?”  _ she asks right away. As expected of her. 

“Yes sister, I’m eating well these days, I’m as tired as always, thank you so much for asking” responds Ten sarcastically. 

Terny snorts.  _ “I called you last week and I keep up with your games, I know you’re fine. What I don’t know is the boy who’s clearly matching costumes with you” _ .

Ten sighs, because he knew this was coming, sooner or later. “He’s a journalist and he’s friends with the team, that’s why we invited him to the party” 

_ “Nice, now: why was he matching with you?” _

“Because I met him before the other guys did, you could say we’re more friends than the rest, I guess” tries to explain Ten. 

_ “This isn’t telling me why you did matching outfits”  _ says his sister with her sweet voice. That’s a red light for Ten. 

“Fine. I invited him and neither of us had actual costumes, so I improvised with what I had in the box of old stuff” 

_ “Did you forget a Halloween costume?”  _ asks Terny.  _ “You don’t forget Halloween costumes, you’re too competitive for that”  _

She’s right, but it’s been weird months so give him a break. “We had a very bad stretch for a while. It slipped my mind and when I realized I didn’t have time to plan so low-budget Greek gods had to make do”.

There’s a laugh at the other end of the line.  _ “Well, you looked cute. You and your friend, who still doesn’t have a name or a relationship status”  _

The player rolls his eyes. “His name is Johnny, he’s from Chicago and I don’t know his relationship status because we’re  _ friends _ who don’t ask that kind of thing”

Terny hums.  _ “Hmmm, sounds fake but okay” _

“You’re so annoying” Ten says with a smile on his face. 

_ “That I am. But you love me” _ says the girl and Ten can imagine her smiling while petting one of their dogs. He misses her a lot. 

“Stop trying to stalk my friends and tell me how are the pets”.

His sister doesn’t need another word, she starts updating him on everything that is going on at the house. Ten loves her for a lot of reasons but that she doesn’t insist on awkward topics is the top five of them. His teammates should learn from her but there’s no way in hell he’s letting Terny and Yuta exchange numbers. 

* * *

There are pros and cons to their jobs. The worst con is that Ten is basically never in the city, and when he is, he’s either playing, practicing or sleeping which reduces his time a lot. The pro is that Ten loves his job and he wins an absurd amount of money for it. 

With Johnny is different. Johnny has weird times because his job doesn’t have an end time: when the boss says you gotta cover something, you do it, at least that’s what he has told Ten. It also means that he can hang out with Ten if he moves his times around. 

That’s the reason why the journalist is currently at his house, on one of the few days off that Ten has. In fact Johnny lives in an apartment a little far away from his house, but Ten has pets to take care of and the older man loves them so he’s always willing to go to the suburbs.

“Who cares for them when you’re not here?” asks Johnny while petting Louis, the first cat that Ten adopted. Louis loves Johnny, apparently. 

“I have a pet sitter. They come around and make sure they’re eating and going out” responds Ten. He’s playing with Bella, his beagle, because she’s the one that suffers the most when he’s not around. 

“You told me you had a lot of pets at home, is that why you have them now?” 

Ten nods. “Yeah. My family and me, we’re used to a house full of animals. We had a pet monkey once”

Johnny looks at him shocked. “What? Is that a Thailand thing?” 

Ten shrugs. “I’m not sure, my dad just wanted animals and we rescued a lot of them, so I guess we just had them at home. When I got here, it was lonely so I decided to keep going with that and adopted them”

“That’s cute” says Johnny. He’s petting Louis’ paw which shows how fucking treacherous is that cat, because he never lets Ten touch his paws. 

Johnny and Ten, they don’t need to be talking a lot. They do, because both like to joke and make weird comments about whatever is going on in a show, or when they watch hockey, it’s never deep analysis but funny stuff and that’s what Ten likes the most. But they can be in silence, just with the pets and that’s good too. It’s calming. 

“Hey” says Johnny suddenly. “Um, would you like to meet with some of my friends?” 

“Uh?” Ten answers like the highly thinking human he is. 

“It’s not a big deal” explains Johnny. “They just know we’re friends, and they thought it’d be cool if we could all hangout, but I know you’re busy and also a hockey star player so I can tell them to just mind their own business”. He’s definitely blushing, Ten can see it and he will also ignore it. 

“It’s cool” answers Ten. “It makes sense, I take away a lot of your time”

Johnny shakes his head. “Nah, they’re just noisy and want to be friends with everyone. Seriously, I can tell them no” 

Ten denies it. “No man, it’s cool. I have a roadie this week but after that I have a three-game home stand so we can plan around it. Go for lunch? I’ll invite you to a game but you kind of have a job after that” 

Johnny laughs. “Yeah, that’d be no fun for me. But I will talk to them and we can go for lunch after one of your practices” 

“Nice”

“Super” 

Both keep looking at the pets and ignore the absolute awkward of that conversation because it has implications that Ten doesn’t want to think about. It’s normal. Friends meet each other's friends all the time. It’s cool. 

* * *

Ten meets Johnny’s friends the next Saturday. Toronto had a game both Thursday and Friday so they get some days off and all of Saturday free which is great for him. They’re having lunch at a restaurant downtown because it’s the easiest place. 

“Ten” Johnny waves at him at the entrance. 

“Hey man” says Ten as a greeting. 

Besides the older man there're two guys, both smaller than him, one with black hair and a cute brown coat. The other is a little smaller - taller than Ten but that doesn’t matter here -, blonde, wearing all white with a pink sweater. 

“Ten, this is Doyoung and Taeyong” says Johnny while pointing at everyone involved. “Do, Yongs, this is Ten” 

“Hi Ten” says Taeyong and goes to shake his hand. “I truly thought Johnny was making it up that he’s your friend” 

Ten laughs. “You never know, he could have paid me to pretend it” 

“He doesn’t make enough money for that” says Doyoung and then shakes his hand too. “Pleasure to meet you” 

“Okay!” says Johnny clapping. “Let’s go inside because I’m starving, You can talk about my lack of money inside” 

They all sit on a table far away from the door and window. It isn’t that necessary but Ten appreciates the thought of wanting him to have a little privacy. They all look at the menu and order before they start talking. 

“So” starts Ten. “You have been friends for a long time?” 

Taeyong nods. “We meet in college. I was his roommate and this one” he points at Doyoung. “Was his classmate in one of their weird journalist classes” 

“ _ This one” _ says Doyoung rolling his eyes. “You can just point at me, and it wasn’t a weird class, you only saw my notes once about the dude who interviewed murderers.” 

“Fucking weird” 

“How is that weird?” 

“They’re like this all the time” says Johnny to Ten while rolling his eyes, so the younger only smiles at their banter. 

“Ten” Taeyong turns to him suddenly. “Before we keep going with this conversation, I have a very important question” Ten raises his eyebrows. “Pineapple on pizza, yes or no?”

“Yes”

“You’re going to be my best friend forever” declares Taeyong with a smile. 

“Absolutely no” says Doyoung at the same time. “No offense Ten, but we’re never eating pizza with you” 

Johnny rests his head in his hand, clearly he has heard this discussion before. Ten thinks it is amusing, so he says “Why? Is obviously the superior topping” 

“Superior?” says Doyoung, offended. “Are hockey players not allowed to have pizza? Is that the only topping you have had? I can’t accept you believe that” 

“I can eat pizza but mostly only during off-season” responds Ten. 

“Seriously?” asks Taeyong. 

Ten nods. “We have a diet plan because we have to have stable weight and you know, be healthy” 

“I have seen his food. Sometimes it's sad” Johnny adds. 

“It’s healthy!” Ten says offended. He makes his own food and it’s not sad. “What do you eat apart from Americanos?” 

Taeyong snorts. Doyoung is also smirking. 

“You have seen me eat!” replies Johnny.

“I saw you eat nachos, that is worse than the amount of coffee you consume” Ten is ignoring that he shamelessly eats a ton of terrible food after the season is done. 

They can’t keep arguing because their food arrives. But right after the waiter leaves, Doyoung says. “Your food is pretty sad man” 

Ten drops his head on the table and the other three laugh at his despair. Original way to start a friendship.

By the end of the lunch, Ten learns that Taeyong is a Kindergarten teacher which makes a lot of sense, Doyoung is doing PR for some online company and that they have been dating “forever” according to Johnny and “five years, stop being dramatic” according to Taeyong. 

Ten talked too, about his job, about his teammates. They’re both interested in hockey, it’s Toronto, you don’t have other option. But specially Taeyong, he’s a fan and so Ten says that he can give them tickets for a game. 

“Are you serious?” ask Taeyong when Ten offers the tickets. 

Ten nods. “It’s not big deal. We have two tickets open for every game, so just check the schedule, if you want to see a specific team or when you have a free night. I’ll tell Kun to have them ready at the will call” 

Taeyong turns to Doyoung and says. “I love you but I will dump you this moment and marry him just to have those tickets forever” 

Johnny chokes on his water and Ten bursts out laughing just seeing Doyoung’s betrayed face. Before Ten provokes a breakup, he adds. “There’s no need. Just tell me, we have some tickets available every home game and my family isn’t here a lot so you can have them”

“I’m mostly joking” Taeyong looks at Ten, this time embarrassed. “I would love to go to a game of course, but I’m not here to abuse that. I’m here because you’re Johnny's friend. The tickets are a nice extra” he ends with a smile. 

“It’s fine” Ten smiles back at the two men in front of him. “I can’t promise they’re going to be always available but when they are, you can text me and I’ll get you a ticket. You can buy my jersey to support me” 

“I will be wearing it when I come to your game. Deal?” Taeyong extends his hand. 

“Deal” Ten shakes it to close it.

“Why do I feel like this lunch was a mistake?” Johnny suddenly adds while looking at them. 

“You’re just afraid that I’m going to replace your friendship for someone with better pizza taste” responds Ten. 

“Don’t worry John” says Taeyong. “I’ll send you pictures of him when I start hanging out with him” 

Johnny shakes his head but smiles anyway. Ten is… comfortable, happy to find new friends.

* * *

They’re on a Pacific Roadtrip: San José, Los Angeles and Anaheim. They won the past four games, it’s the end of November and they want to be strong before the end of the year. December goes by too fast, they struggled with keeping the energy up this month last season so they have to be better, faster. 

But they’re Toronto and never have good things happen to them. 

They’re going against Los Angeles. This year, they have strong forwards, trying to go size over speed which is exactly why all night Toronto have been getting checked to death. Ten is fast and can avoid a lot, but today he has barely done it. LA wants to win, and it’s obvious.

Ten’s line is up, the game is 3-2 for Toronto and they have only five minutes left on the third and that’s the riskiest time. They know that LA will be attacking with everything they have, and they’re going to pull their goalie soon too. 

LA is in the middle of play when one forward loses control of the puck; Ten takes the opportunity and steals it, passes the middle of the rink and tosses it to the other side to gain time. Mark skates fast, trying to get to the puck before LA does. Then there’s a collision and the gasp of the public. Mark goes down. 

The referee blows his whistle and Ten skates to the other side to see Mark. He’s conscious but in obvious pain, holding his arm. Ten kneels beside him and asks, “What’s wrong?” 

“Shoulder. I have to leave” responds the boy with a wince. Ten helps him to get up and skate to the bench. He’s not coming back to the game but the referee is marking this as tripping infringement with five minutes left. They can at least hold it until he can check Mark in the locker room. 

Toronto goes into Power Play for two minutes, after that LA pulls their goalie and they try to clear the puck or score, whatever happens first. In the end, Toronto wins 3-2, but they’re all worried about Mark and it’s obvious. 

Ten gets media, he goes through the questions almost without thinking, showers and then he asks their coach. Mark is at the hospital getting X-rays, which means something is broken. No good news at all. 

It’s way later, back at the hotel when the younger boy enters the room, looking absolutely fucked and probably into five types of painkillers.

“Broken shoulder. I’m out six weeks” is the first thing he says before flopping on his bed. “Before fucking Christmas” 

Ten goes to his bed and tries to reassure him. “It’s only six weeks. You’ll be back in January, ready for the last stretch to make it to the playoffs. It’s a good time, man” 

Mark sighs but cuddles Ten to the best of his abilities, trying to not disturb his right shoulder. “I hate getting injured” 

“I’m sure the only good thing are the first painkillers. After that, nothing about injury is good” answers Ten. He has had his fair share of injuries. “At least is not a concussion, those sucks”

Mark nods. “Your concussion last year was so terrible that all of us wished it to go away. You were annoying and I’m sure none of us liked reading you all those webtoons” 

“Fucking liar” Ten disarrays Mark’s hair since he can’t punch him. “Y’all loved the webtoons. But fine, I will also help you pass this once we’re back in Toronto. I will cook for you” 

“That’s all I wanted” Mark smiles and then settles down to sleep. He has to take advantage of the painkillers because once he wakes up, that injury is going to be a bitch. 

Ten goes back to his bed, not because he’s not up to cuddle with Mark but it’s best if he’s alone while his shoulder is still delicate. He’s going to put their usual alarms when he sees Johnny texted him. 

**Johnny**

_ “I saw the injury, how’s Mark?”  _

**Ten**

_ “Broken shoulder. Coach is going to tell media tomorrow morning probably, so expect that information”  _

_ “He’s currently under a ton of painkillers. that is what coach is not going to tell you”  _

**Johnny**

_ “that sucks”  _

_ “tell me what he likes, i’ll bring him some stuff once you guys are back”  _

**Ten**

_ “don’t steal my best friend”  _

**Johnny**

_ “i could never” _

**Ten**

_ “Okay! :)”  _

_ “he likes Cookie and Cream ice cream, he can’t eat it but he’s injured so he can justify it that way. that and any food that has watermelon as flavor.” _

_ “you’ll be his hero if you give him that”  _

**Johnny**

_ “cool, i'll buy some stuff and uhhh i can give it to you?”  _

**Ten**

_ “We can go together to his house. I promised I will cook for him anyway” _

**Johnny**

_ “does that mean i can eat food cooked by you?”  _

**Ten**

_ “Yup, it’s an exclusive deal”  _

**Johnny**

_ “i'm more than in. text me whenever we can go this house. i’m excited”  _

Ten rolls his eyes even if Johnny can see him. His cooking isn’t that special, but he guesses he can show that his food isn’t bland for once. And Mark is going to love the food and company. It’s a win-win situation.

* * *

“People are going to start thinking you’re my private chauffeur” says Johnny as a greeting when he enters Ten’s car. 

“I have picked you up like three times” responds Ten while going back to the main road. Mark doesn’t live too far away from Johnny. Ten is one of the few younger guys who lives in the suburbs, and that’s only because he has a long contract and pets. Ten wanted a big place for them. 

There’s a small sound from the back seat and when Johnny turns he exclaims. “Leon! You brought him with you?” 

Ten nods. “Mark loves Leon, I guessed he’s going to appreciate him for a few hours”.

It takes no time to get to Mark’s apartment, and both him and Johnny go up to his floor with a ton of supplies. When Ten knocks, Mark opens the door and smiles. 

“I was about to text where you were!” says the boy and then turns to Johnny. “Nice to see you again, man!” 

“How are you holding up?” Johnny asks while entering the house. Ten doesn’t even try, he goes straight to the kitchen and to let Leon out. 

“Hurts like a bitch” responds Mark with a wince and then he sees the cat. “Leon! How are you? I’m sorry for not visiting you”. Leon is better than Louis when it comes to people, and he’s used to Mark so he’s willing to be pet and get attention. 

“Johnny, bring the other stuff. He’s going to ignore you while he pets Leon” shouts Ten from the kitchen.

“Wrong” responds Mark. “I’m going to ignore you, I can talk to Johnny just fine” 

Johnny laughs but still brings the rest of the stuff to the kitchen. There, Ten is already preparing stuff. The youngest of them comes some minutes later, holding Leon to the best of his abilities with one arm. 

“What are you going to make me?” 

“Kimchi jjigae” 

Mark actually gasps. “You got kimchi?” 

Ten smiles. “Yup, it’s good too so I thought I could make you this so you stop complaining to your mom about wanting good food. She texted me.” 

“You having my mother’s number doesn’t sit well with me” says with a frown Mark. “But I’ll forgive you because you don’t make this often”. With that, he turns and goes to the couch to rest his arm. 

Johnny turns to Ten. “You can make Korean food?” Ten hums a yes. “Bro, I can’t even make it, how?” 

“My mom made us a lot of different foods, including Korean so I learned from her. When Mark got here, he actually missed his parents a lot and he was my rookie so I started making it. Since you were coming too, I guessed this was something you’ll like to eat” explains Ten. 

Johnny doesn’t say anything for a moment, and when Ten turns to see if he didn’t say something wrong, the older is looking at him. “You’re an amazing friend, Ten”.

“Ah… it’s nothing” says Ten, but he feels blushing on his cheeks. “Mark helps me a lot when I’m injured too, and well, you’ll have to cook me something too if I break something” 

Johnny makes a face. “I’ll cook you something without the breaking bones' thing” 

Ten laughs but keeps going with the cooking. He prepares everything relatively easy, since he has made this before and Johnny is actually helpful in the kitchen. When they go to the living room to wait for the food to finish cooking, Mark is watching some old series with a quilt over his legs and Leon is asleep beside him. 

Johnny and Ten sit with him and chat about random stuff until the food is ready. They spend some hours just doing nothing, talking and teasing Mark about all the things he can do with only his left hand. 

Eventually, Johnny gets a text from his boss saying he needs to make an article so he leaves first. He says bye and promises to text both of them later in the week. 

Once the older is gone, Mark turns to him and raises his eyebrows. “Do I need to ask or are you going to avoid the topic once again?” 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about” answers Ten. 

“Okay, so avoid.” Mark changes positions so he can look at him better. “Ten, be honest with me” 

Ten sighs, turns down the volume of the TV and looks at Mark. “What do you want to know?” 

“You like Johnny” 

“That doesn’t sound like a question” 

“Because it’s not, that I can see” Mark says. “My question is, are you going to make something about it?” 

Ten puts his hands on his face. “No, or well I don’t know, I don’t think so” 

“Why?” 

“I don’t know, maybe because we’re fucking hockey players?” answers sarcastically Ten. 

“So are Mitch and Matts but they’re married” argues the youngest. 

“It’s different”

“How are they different?” Mark makes a face and Ten truly loves him but Mark wouldn’t understand it. He still tries to explain it. 

“They’re not only Toronto players, they’re the saviors of Toronto hockey” starts Ten. “They came here when this team had nothing, they gave them hope and suddenly this team was dragged into something much better, it was a Stanly Cup winning team. This city loves them, and so the gay thing didn’t matter because they’re making hockey thrive again. And that’s great but… I’m not them” 

“Tennie…”

“No, it’s not about talent” Ten stops him. “I’m good, of course, but I didn’t do what they do. They came out older than me, when they had broken every record of this city. Mitch is a hometown boy too. I’m the first Thai player and it took two full seasons for Toronto to believe in me. If I add more to it, I’m afraid this city isn’t going to accept it” 

Mark doesn’t say anything for some minutes.

“You know, Mo once told me that you have no idea what you have made for this city, and now I see it” Mark is looking at him and Ten avoids his glaze while snorting. That’s a thing Mo would say. 

“Why are you talking about me behind my back?” he says just to be funny. Mark ignores him. 

“You have been here for six years. You came here just drafted because Toronto was having a shit year. You are not that different from them” says Mark. “Yes, Matts was their hope back then and maybe the city wasn’t as desperate during your draft year but you, Ten, still gave them so much” 

Ten tears up a bit. "It doesn't feel like I have a right to it. Not yet"

"It's not about repaying them, but if it were, you have done a lot already. Your jersey is one of the most sold ones because everyone loves you, and everyone admires the passion you have for this game and this city that isn't yours, a city that you made yours" Mark takes his hand and squeezes it. "So don't let Toronto, or the fans or even us, stop you from following your heart, okay?" 

Ten cleans his tears with his hand but nods. "Okay" 

"Good, because it’s pretty fucking sad seeing you pinning like this" 

"I'm not pinning, you asshole. I'm not fifteen"

"You look fifteen" 

"That's because I have good genes. You will wish to look as young as me" says Ten, back to his bullshit. 

"I don't wish for people to ask for my ID when I buy alcohol" Mark smirks.

"It was one fucking time, and I was 21. Why did Mitch even tell you that story?" Ten frowns.

"Because you look too cool and someone needs to remind the rookies that you're actually a fucking mess" explains Mark with a smile. "I can tell the rookies from next year about you pinning too"

"You're not saying shit to anyone if you want someone to cook for you" Mark doesn't argue after that. "Put a good movie and stop making me talk about feelings"

"Okay, Tennie"

They settle on the couch to watch another shitty movie but Ten feels like he can consider Mark's perspective. He can work into that thinking at least. 

Ten has never been happier to have Mark as his center and best friend.

* * *

At the end of November, Ten comes back from their latest roadie more than exhausted. Jisung is filling the place for Mark, which is his time to shine and show his potential. The kid is doing great, but he’s still a rookie so they have been adjusting and the coach is thinking of moving lines around until he finds a good fit. 

The good news is that they’re not losing too much, just normal Toronto losing which isn’t great but they’re working on that. Overall, the defense are the only ones suffering from the manager team trying every combination possible until they learn how to… well, defend. 

Ten is finally at home, resting on his own bed when Johnny texts him.

**Johnny**

_ “hey, can i call you?”  _

**Ten**

_ “Yeah, is everything okay?” _

Instead of getting an answer, Johnny calls. “What’s up dude, you’re okay?” 

_ “Yeah, I’m fine” _ answers Johnny. _ “I just realized I forgot to tell you something” _

“What it is?”

_ “Tomorrow is my last day covering hockey”  _

“Oh” Ten kind of forgot about that point. “Is Jennifer back then?” 

Johnny makes an affirmative sound.  _ “Yes, or at least for now? I’m not sure she’s going to stay but she’s back right now. I think Sportsnet is going to hire someone to cover Toronto full time”  _

“You weren’t making the cut?” jokes Ten. 

Johnny laughs. _ “Actually no. Apparently I have done such a good job that they want me to cover a bunch of interviews now, which is great, I guess”  _

“You guess?” Ten asks while raising a brow. He knows Johnny can’t see him but he’s going to know anyway. 

_ “Shut up. I mean… this is good. Maybe all those questions about fashion made them reconsider my worth for them”  _

“I’m sure it did. I bet every league called wanting a Johnny’s Fashion Evaluation” chirps Ten. “Sportsnet obviously had to fight you back from Vogue, so they’re giving you better stuff” 

On the line, Johnny lets out a laugh that makes Ten smile.  _ “Do you have insider information?” _

Ten hums. “I have some friends at Sportsnet. I could be giving you real facts”.

The older boy laughs again and then sighs. _ “For real tho, I just wanted to let you know that you’re going to have to find a new fashion evaluator but… this just means I stop working with you. We’re still friends”  _

“Not a question?” 

_ “Nope” _ says Johnny.  _ “You don’t have a say in this friendship. I have learned you can make Korean food and I don’t plan on letting that go” _

“It’s always Ten’s food but never people buying food to Ten” complains the player, just joking because he obviously doesn’t mind. 

_ “I told you I could buy you pizza and you told me to get out of your house!”  _

“Because my nutritionist would have my head if I ate pizza. They want to me gain muscle since some teams are going hard with the checks this season” 

_ “Well, in that case, I will buy you pizza during your bye-week, how’s that?” _

“Perfect” They don’t say anything for some seconds but Ten eventually says. “Hey, Johnny?” 

_ “Hm?” _

“After tomorrow… I’m sure the guys will want you to hang out with us anyway. Don’t think you’re free from our disaster team” 

_ “I sure hope not. I still own Yuta some weird Japanese candy” _ answers Johnny and Ten can’t see him but he’s sure the man is smiling. They’re going to be okay. 

* * *

On the first week of December, before Ten can completely change into his equipment, Yuta comes to his locker room and says. “So this year our Christmas Party is on the 16th, eh?” 

“I’m going to stop you right there” says Ten, not even looking up from where he’s tying his skates. 

“I was just friendly chatting” Yuta says, looking like a scolded child. Fake snake. 

“Nazer” Ten stands up from his bench. “You literally never ‘friendly’ chat. I know where you are going. No” 

“You know I’m only asking you by courtesy, right?” Yuta starts following Ten to the ice. “I have his number, I can invite him myself” 

“Then do it” says Ten and then goes with their Power Play coach to avoid the goalie. 

Johnny stopped going a week and a half ago. The team was sad about him leaving but, as Ten said, a lot of them have befriended him from the times they have hanged out, so it’s obvious he’s going to stay in touch with more than one player. 

Still, everyone seems to think that the only reason Ten didn’t ‘ _ pursue Johnny _ ’ was the job relationship, which was wrong. The reason is Ten’s commitment problems and gay trauma, thank you very much. 

So now he’s dealing with a bunch of over-protector hockey players who want gossip, because Ten is not a fool and he knows they’re doing this as a “team bonding experience” aka having fun with someone else’s life. Fucking assholes, see if Ten gives him cookies during Christmas.

Currently, they’re trying to make him invite Johnny to their annual Christmas party and Ten is refusing because it’s usually only for family. There’s a lot of implications there, more than their Halloween party which is more friendly. He also just doesn’t want to give them the satisfaction of winning an argument. 

In the end, it’s Jisung who convinces him. 

Ten is like 90% sure that at least three of his teammates conspired to make it happen, but one week before the party, Nuggs tells him on the flight back from Calgary how this year has been hard since it’s his first away from family. The usual rookie experience. 

Apparently, Johnny talked with him about this when they visited Mark the other day, and the kid explains how he really appreciates his advice and would like to have it once more before Christmas because Jisung isn’t sure his family can fly to see him. 

In short, Ten is moved by his rookie and decides to text Johnny to see if he can come to the party and talk with the younger boy. Johnny says yes. 

The only reason why Ten doesn’t punch Willy and Nazer when he announces it to the team, it’s because Nuggs is actually happy about the journalist going to the party. Ten thinks he can sue his team for emotional manipulation.

Honestly, for all that Ten complains about the Christmas party, he actually enjoys it a lot. Ten didn’t celebrate Christmas in Thailand, not how Americans do it at least, so it’s fun to have a party where he can have the full experience. 

Usually, the team management gets the place and food, but a lot of the wives and partners in general help. Ten also thinks it’s fun because there’s a lot of chaos during the party, what with the kids and babies running wild around the place. This year is not different except… Well, Johnny is also there.

For some reason, Johnny get nervous about this gathering. He texts Ten about the dress code, and if it’s necessary to bring anything which no, _ what? _ So in the end Ten sends him some pictures from the year before so he can calm down and know what to expect. 

* * *

The day of the party, they meet at the place since it’s halfway between both their homes. Johnny is wearing something casual but that fits right in with what Ten expects inside. 

“Johnny!” 

“Hey Ten” smiles Johnny. “Ready? Because I’m low-key dying of cold” 

“Yeah, let’s go inside” as they walk inside the venue, Ten adds. “I thought you were from Chicago, shouldn’t you be used to the cold?” 

“Toronto’s cold isn’t the same dude” explains Johnny who's still slightly shivering. “Once it’s at 5 degrees, I get concerned for everyone’s health” 

“Is that 5 degree Celsius? Because if you still use Fahrenheit I will make half of this venue kick you” says Ten. 

“Is that your Canadian side coming out?” asks the older with a smile.

“That’s my logical human being coming out. No one except the US uses that, why?” 

“It’s ‘cause America doesn’t make sense” says Mo, joining their conversation. “No offense Johnny” 

“None taken, you’re right” nods the boy. “I’ve been living here enough to realize it, I just like to annoy the Canadians” 

“That’s brave” admires Mo. Ten rolls his eyes at both and just goes to greet the people he hasn’t seen in a long time. Johnny follows him because he’s technically his friend (even when most of the people here know him). 

“Uncle Ten!” screams a little girl, running straight at Ten’s legs. 

“Victoria!” Ten takes the not-so-little girl into his arms. “It’s been so long, you grew up so much!” 

“I did!” the little girl, Victoria, says. “My brother also grew up a lot” 

Ten fake gasps. “He must be so big now! Where is your mommy?” 

“With aunt Sophia” says Victoria before she turns to Johnny and asks. “Who are you?” 

“Oh, he’s my friend. Victoria, he’s Johnny” says Ten. “Johnny, this is Victoria, Mo’s daughter” 

“A pleasure to meet you Victoria” Johnny responds politely. 

“I like your eyes” she says with all the sincerity of a five-year-old.

“I like your dress” Johnny says in return. “I think is very festive” 

Victoria smiles at him and Ten knows he just won her. Why is Johnny so good at winning every person on his team? It’s annoying. 

“Ten!” a voice says and Ten turns to see Tess, Mo’s wife, carrying a baby in her arms. 

“Tess, how are you? Sorry for not going to see you more often” Ten says as a greeting. 

“Don’t worry sweetheart” says Tess, her eyes always kind. “Mo has been telling me how hard it’s been since Mark got injured” 

Ten shrugs. “We’ve been dealing with it. But let me see baby James!” 

The woman fuzzes with the blue blanket for a while before the face of a baby can be seen. He’s only some months old, but already has a head full of black hair like his mother. 

“Wow, he’s so big now” exclaims Ten. “Kids really grow fast” 

Tess nods. “More than you think.” she sighs and then turns to Johnny. “I’m guessing you’re Johnny?” 

The man startles a little but nods quickly. “Yes, I’m Ten’s friend. Nice to meet you Mrs. Riley.” 

Tess laughs and says, “Call me Tess, everyone does it. I have heard a lot about you. Mo tells me about your weird college stories that you tell them when you go out” 

“Ah” Johnny blushes. “I’m not sure that’s a good first impression, to be honest” 

Ten snorts but the woman only shakes her head. “It tells me you’re really fun. I get why Ten befriended you, he likes to laugh” she ends with a smile directed at the both of them. 

“Who doesn’t like to laugh?” Ten says rhetorically, trying to avoid getting red from embarrassment. Leave it to Mo and his family to make him feel like a kid presenting his prom date.

The conversation gets interrupted by Kun who pulls the attention of everyone to say his thanks and invites everyone to eat, which, with 23 hockey players and a bunch of kids, is the best invitation ever. 

The party goes well, Ten likes to talk with everyone and play with the kids, and he enjoys eating the desserts without feeling guilty because all of them were put with approval of their nutritionist. It’s the best. 

Eventually, he finds Johnny and Jisung talking in a corner. He doesn’t know what they’re talking about, but he guesses it’s about Jisung’s complicated feelings about living alone for the first time. It’s not an easy transition for anyone, but Nuggs is truly a kid so it’s normal that he’s seeking advice everywhere. 

After a while, when it looks like the boys are done talking, Ten walks and give Jisung a brownie. “Eat, today is the only night that you can eat everything in front of the nutritionist without being scolded” 

Jisung nods and starts eating it, while he tells Ten that he thinks his older brother is coming to one of the games before Christmas. It’s cute but also the reason why he doesn’t notice he’s getting ambushed by his team. 

“Ten, hold James” says Mo without even a warning, and suddenly gives him a baby. A very small baby. 

“What?!” whisper screams Ten while holding the baby. 

“Tess wants a photo of everyone with the baby” says Mo. Behind him, Yuta, Snoopy, and Mark with his still injured arm, are watching while holding their laughter. “Smile!” 

Ten smiles by reflex and waits until his photo is taken, but before he can ask for someone to take the baby, Matts pushes Johnny and says, “Go pose with him, everyone in this party is going to have a photo”. 

And yes, that's how Ten ends with a baby and a flustered Johnny beside him, looking at Mo’s camera while half his team is also taking pictures that are most likely going to end up on some social media. He hates it here. 

Five seconds later, the baby starts crying and Ten looks up panicked at Johnny who also doesn’t know what to do. They both turn to Mo who sighs and takes the baby from them before it gets worse. 

From somewhere, Willy says “I got that whole thing on video”. Ten starts running after him.

  
  


Hours later, when the guys send him the photos, Ten saves them all. 

* * *

Because he didn’t celebrate Christmas in Thailand, Ten never thinks too much of the holiday. He misses his family, of course, and during the festivities maybe more because of the sentiment of the season, but overall it’s not a big deal for him to be alone. 

Of course, he has never been alone because everyone else thinks it’s terrible he spends Christmas without anyone and so he ends up in some house or another for dinner and the gifts the next day. This year, he spends it with Matts and Mitch. 

Both players are used to having a lot of people, and during the holidays they have a full house with both their families: parents, sisters, brothers and nephews. Mitch has been with them during Christmas before and it’s fun so this year is not different. 

Usually, because the house is so full, Ten ends up sleeping in their TV room, which has a big couch where Ten often falls asleep anyway, so he doesn’t have a problem with it. Technically, he could go home but he truly enjoys seeing the kids open presents, it reminds him of when he and Terny were kids, excited for everything. 

It’s around 1am when a knock on the door pulls his attention. 

“Are you still awake?” says Mitch behind the door. 

“Yeah, come in” answers Ten. 

Mitch enters the room and sits at the end of the couch. “I thought you might still be awake. Mark tells me about your sleeping problems often.” 

“It’s not sleeping problems” answers Ten. “I’m just a night person. And you’re awake at this hour too so I think you have no right to judge me right now”

“Too defensive for someone who doesn’t have sleeping problems, but okay” says Mitch and sits beside him.

“What’s up? What are you thinking about?” asks Ten. 

“I like having a full house” answers Mitch truthfully.

“Does that mean you want me here more often or…?”

Mitch throws him one of the couch pillows. “Don’t be stupid. You can be here all you want but I mean… Matts and I are thinking of adopting” 

Ten raises his eyebrows. “Wow!” 

The older man snorts. “So eloquent as usual, Tennie” 

“Sorry, I mean, that’s awesome man. I'm truly “wow” about it tho” says Ten. “Have you been thinking about this for a while?” 

Mitch nods. “Before we got married, I told him I wanted us to adopt kids eventually. Of course, we were kids back then so we kind of forgot about it for a while but now… I think we should start seeing the options” 

“That’s big. Very adulty” 

Mitch punches his arm. “I am an adult, asshole!” 

“Ouch!” Ten complains while touching his arm. “You know what I mean. A more adult.” 

Mitch laughs but nods. “I also used to think that people with kids were more adult than me. I can’t believe I’m now thinking about having kids too.” 

They fall into a silence for some minutes, thinking about both players with a kid. A little surreal if Ten is honest, but he thinks it’s right. They’re going to be great fathers. 

“Was it hard?” finally asks Ten. 

“What?” 

“Everything” Ten makes a vague gesture with his hand. “Being a player, being out, becoming an LGBT icon without your consent. Didn’t you regret it?” 

Mitch thinks about it for a moment but eventually shakes his head. “Nope. I will not lie to you and say it was easy or that I liked every part of it because it sucked. Very bad sometimes. But I spent a lot of time being afraid of everyone: our teammates, the other players, the public. By that moment, I just wanted to stop caring about others, I just wanted to be with Matts” 

“Is every in love person this sappy or is this a ‘you’ thing?” chirps Ten with a smirk. 

The other man kicks him. “Don’t tempt your fate Lee” warns Mitch. “I will wrestle you and then Matts would have to explain to coach why his two star players are injured before New Year” 

Ten puts his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay!”

Mitch settles again on his seat. “I will give you free advice: Don’t let people influence your decisions” He looks at Ten in the eyes. “I mean it both ways. Don’t be pressured to do something you don’t want but also don’t let others stop you from doing what you want. In the end, it’s your life so don’t give people power over it” 

“So wise” 

“Ten”

“Okay, I will not joke” sighs the youngest. “I know you’re talking about Johnny.” 

“You like him a lot, don’t you?” asks Mitch. 

Ten nods. “I think he likes me back” 

“He asked you about your boring suits, I’m pretty sure he adores you” says Mitch with a smirk. 

“Fuck off” laughs Ten. “I’m… I don’t want you to think that the team is pressuring me into this, into Johnny. I know you’re doing it with good intention and most of it is friendly hanging out.” He explains. “But I’m just not sure how ready I am to being out, to being open about my heart” 

“Then don’t be” Mitch says and shrugs. “Aus and me… we didn’t have love at first sight” he stops a moment to laugh, “We were kids, we just wanted to try it, see where we can go and if it works, good and if it doesn’t, we deal with it. We were very dumb so it took us a long time to understand that we wanted this for real. But you’re different Tennie” 

Mitch pats his head, like he would to a kid and Ten honestly feels like one. “You’re smarter than us, older than us and you also have us. You might not want to be out to the world, but if you want to try it, we’re going to be here for you, the whole team. I think that’s mostly what everyone has been telling you when they ask you to bring Johnny, they’re showing support in their own way”

“The hockey men way?” asks Ten.

“Yeah, you know the hockey way it’s terrible” Mitch makes a face when he says it. “But they’re trying. We all are trying to let you know that is fine, whatever you want to do. Okay?” 

Ten nods. “Okay, it makes sense”

“Don’t think about it too much” Mitch says but then seems to think it better. “Or overthinking it, whatever works for you dude. Just don’t close your doors before seeing what’s inside. It might surprise you.” 

“Thank you” 

“You’re welcome” Mitch gets up. “Now go to sleep because the kids are going to wake us up in like four hours. Be ready for it” 

“I will!” Ten gets comfortable on the couch and doesn’t think about the conversation. His heart does feel lighter and that’s enough to put him to sleep.

* * *

Johnny calls him three days after Christmas.

“Good afternoon Mr. Suh” says Ten with a smile. 

_ “Hi Ten” _ answers happily Johnny.  _ “How was Christmas?” _

“Loud as you’d expect with Mitchy”

_ “I hope that also means fun?” _

“Yeah, that too. Their mothers cooked too so I had amazing food and dessert. I truly can’t ask for more” says Ten, still daydreaming about the pie he had that night.

Johnny laughs.  _ “I’m glad you’re into the holiday season because of the food”  _

“Are you back in Toronto?” ask Ten. Johnny left for Chicago before Christmas, so Ten and him only texted during the past week. 

_ “Yeah, that’s actually why I called. I want to give you your present” _ says the boy. 

“Oh, uh I have to leave for Minnesota in two days. Is tomorrow good for you?” ask Ten. He’s still bitter that he’s spending New Years in fucking Minnesota. Couldn’t be something more cool like Las Vegas? 

_ “Perfect. I can go to your house?”  _

“No need” says Ten. “I have to go to Mark’s house in the morning so we can meet up in your house or close by” 

Johnny hums for a moment thinking.  _ “I need to go to the office real quick so what if we meet at the park behind the good Mexican Restaurant? So neither of us have to rush through the city”  _

“A park?” asks Ten. “It’s December, are you sure you want to meet me there?” 

_ “I want to appreciate the city in December for a while” _ responds Johnny.  _ “And you’re going to have your car there so we can escape when it gets too cold” _

Ten laughs but agrees anyway. “Okay, I’ll meet you there” 

_ “Cool. See you tomorrow”  _

“Bye”

Ten hangs up and goes looking for Johnny’s present. He wants to make sure it’s perfect one last time. 

* * *

Ten has been five minute on the bench when Johnny’s voice calls him from behind. “Tennie!” 

Ten stands up and hugs Johnny. It’s been a week since he last saw him but he missed him. 

“How was your Christmas?” asks Ten as soon as they separate. 

“Oh, it was cool” responds Johnny while sitting. “It’s usually just my parents, me and sometimes some friends come along. But it’s good to be back with mom and dad. And you know, eating food made by them” 

Ten laughs. “Yup. Every time I go to Thailand I just indulge in everything my mom makes. It’s special”

“Right! Oh, my mom also sent you this” Johnny takes a container from his bag. “It’s cookies, not a lot so you can eat them all without feeling bad with your nutritionist” 

Ten takes the container and almost makes an embarrassing sound. “I love your mom. Please tell her thank you and that I will gladly break my eating plan for cookies.” 

Johnny laughs but nods. “I will pass the message” 

“Before you give me anything else, I want to give you your present!” says Ten while taking out a box out of his backpack. “Merry Christmas!” 

“Oh” Johnny takes the box from him and starts opening. “Thank you” 

In the box there’s a red jersey, the number 19 with a sign made with black marker. “You told me that he was the reason why you started loving hockey, and what eventually made you get into sports journalism overall” explains Ten. “So I asked him for this. I still think that Toronto blue is the best color for a jersey but I can make some sacrifices” 

Johnny is looking at the jersey with wide eyes. “Ten…”

“It’s a little cliché for me to give you a jersey” Ten shrugs. “But it’s not mine so I think that counts?” 

Johnny puts the jersey in the box and hugs him again. It’s an awkward angle but Ten still hugs him back. “Thank you, really” Johnny lets him go and keeps going. “He was a hero for my city when I was a teenager. I wanted so bad a jersey when I was younger but it was too expensive. I can’t believe I have a signed one. Holy shit!” 

Ten smiles at him. “I’m glad you liked it”

Johnny puts the jersey back on the box and then takes a smaller box from his bag. “Now I feel like mine is not enough” he says with a laugh. 

Ten takes the box and starts tearing up the packaging. “Don’t say nonsense” 

It’s a necklace. It has a bird charm hanging from it, it’s blue and has a long peak; the chain is very thin and silver. Ten knows exactly what it is.

“I remember you saw some earrings one time you were online shopping” says Johnny. “You were sad about not having a piercing so you could buy them, and then were sadder because you wouldn’t be able to use earrings during games anyway so I googled a little and found the same design but in a necklace.” Johnny then frowns. “Actually I’m not sure you can use this during games either” 

Ten lets out a small laugh and takes the necklace from the case. “I… this. You know my Thai name, my born name, is long” Johnny nods. “So we all have nicknames and mine comes from this bird, the Kingfisher. This charm reminded me of the bird and that’s why I wanted it” he touches the necklace and then looks up at the other man. “Thank you, this is the best gift.” 

“I didn’t know the whole meaning but I’m glad I got it for you. I feel like a bird is very fitting for you” 

“Ugh, you’re the only one who feels it,” Ten says. “Most of the team insists on putting some kind of cat nickname on me but gladly, it hasn’t stuck” 

“Oh, I can see it” Johnny says while looking at him. “Kitty could be a good nickname” 

“Shut up” Ten laughs. Then they both fall silent while looking at the rest of the park. It’s pretty empty, but it’s a middle ground between Christmas and New Year, so it makes sense that it’s alone. It’s also cold as fuck. “We should go to the car. I'm freezing”

Johnny nods and then they walk to Ten’s car. As soon as they get in, he turns the heat on but doesn’t start the car. He doesn’t want to leave the park yet. 

“Mitch told me that he’s thinking of adopting a kid” says Ten. He isn’t sure why he wants to talk about it, but he’s been thinking about that conversation the last couple of days. 

“Wow… that’s a big step” says Johnny. “Sounds very… adult” 

“I told him that!” laughs Ten. “He told me he has been an adult for years but we know this is different, it’s about having a family. It feels weird but I’m truly happy for him” 

“You will babysit for them” says Johnny. 

“Good lord! I can’t even imagine what a Matts and Mitch’s kid is going to be like” exclaims Ten, suddenly fearing that kid. 

“Probably good at hockey” suggests Johnny. “I think you should fear that” 

Ten snorts. “I’d really like to see that”

Johnny turns to him and smiles. “I’d like to see it too” 

Ten looks at Johnny who’s smiling with his red nose, wearing that ugly green beanie and says. “I like you” Johnny makes a little surprised noise but Ten keeps going. “I like you a lot. I think I have liked you since we first met. And it’s probably weird to be saying it right now, and very anticlimactic” Ten says with a small laugh. “But I needed you to know it. And that I’d like to try something with you… if you like me too, that’s it” 

“I…” Johnny starts and then frowns. “You’re for real, right?” 

“Why would I joke about it?” says Ten frowning in return. 

“Listen, I don’t know!” Johnny makes some gesture with his hands, stops, and then makes eye contact with Ten. “I like you too. A lot...too”

Ten lets out a breath. “Nice” 

“Yeah, cool” 

…

It’s awkward. 

“Does this mean I can kiss you?” asks Johnny. 

“I will kick you if you don’t” answers Ten which is enough for Johnny because he just leans in and kisses him. 

Logically, is not a perfect kiss. The gear is in the middle and it’s probably uncomfortable for Johnny. Ten has the car belt on, so he can’t actually move and fix the position unless he unbuckles it which means stopping. Everything it’s slightly a mess but...

But Ten feels happy, and the fact that they’re kissing inside a car in the middle of the day causes some panic inside him but he still feels on cloud nine. 

When they break apart, Johnny giggles. He actually fucking giggles and Ten, because he’s a sap, giggles back. He’s still a mess, he’s as afraid as he was a month ago and he has no idea what happens after this but Ten realizes that Mitch was right. Right now he’s just glad to be with Johnny. 

  
  


**Epilogue: Family Skate Day**

“I’m surprised that you suck so much at this” says Ten. He’s currently watching Johnny struggle to keep himself standing on the ice. There are some cameras around and he doesn’t want to be a fool and fall. Ten thinks it’s funny and therefore he’s letting him struggle alone. 

“You’re a terrible boyfriend” says Terny who’s actually standing beside Ten, not helping either. “Johnny, you should break up with him” 

“I’m an awesome boyfriend” argues Ten.

“Tennie, I’m breaking up with you if I fall today” says Johnny while glaring at him. “Lucas was assigned for this and he’s absolutely framing a photo of me falling” 

Ten pouts but still goes to help his boyfriend. “I’m doing it to save your pride only” he says, and takes Johnny’s hands, slowly dragging him around. “Just be careful and give small steps sideways.” 

Johnny tries it with some success but he still clenches Ten’s hands like his life depends on it. His journalist life kind of does. 

Toronto is holding their first outdoors game in two years. It’s the kind of thing that excites everyone: the players, the public and of course, their families because it means they’re allowed to have a family skate day. 

Family skate day it’s what it says: a day in which their families can come and enjoy skating, play around and make fun of the ones who can’t skate. Which this year means that they’re making fun of Johnny. 

The past year has been a fucking ride if Ten is being honest. Johnny and him figured out that they could date on the down-low and see how they both felt which devolved into “I’m in love with you” ground too quickly. They don’t complain about the development just laugh about them thinking it could be any other result than that. 

Ten talked with Mitch and Matts a lot. Then he talked with Kun and the Toronto management, and then he came out. 

It wasn’t a big announcement, nor a press conference; it was just a photo of Johnny on his Instagram with a heart (which lead to a lot of chirping, whatever), followed by Toronto’s statement: the team supports their players, they have been clear about their stand on the ‘You Can Play’ campaign and Ten wishes to keep his life private for now and will not give interviews. 

That was it.

Now, he’s here: more than a year later since kissing Johnny, some weeks after coming out, with his family who flew from Thailand to see this game, with Johnny who doesn’t know how to skate, and Ten just feels so happy. He doesn’t even care how dumb he’s going to look in the pictures. 

“I absolutely don’t envy your job” says Johnny looking still down at his feet. “Why do you even like this? Don’t answer that” 

Ten bursts out laughing. “Does this mean you will cook me breakfast more often? For my hard work?” 

“Doubtful” answers Johnny with a smirk. Ten laughs once more and then teases Johnny making it seem like he’s going to let him go. It’s fun. 

After a while of skating, Johnny finally looks at him and says. “Do you think they will take a lot of photos if I kiss you?” 

Ten hums, thinking about it but eventually smiles back. “Yes, but I hope they forget it when Mark starts dragging Jisung around on the ice”. He doesn’t wait for a response, just leans in and kisses Johnny. 

They do appear on the highlights of the game later on. But the photo becomes his home screen background so who’s really winning? 

(Ten, he’s the one winning)

**Author's Note:**

> List of explanations:  
> \- Chirp: is hockey lingo for trash talking or teasing. Depends on the context but here is for teasing.  
> \- Draft Combine: every year the NHL test the possible candidates for the draft, which is the kids that are going to be in the league the next years. I think it lasts a week? They have physical and psychological tests and interviews with all the teams.  
> \- It's not usual for drafted kids to play right away. They spend at least one year in juniors or the AHL before going up. Exceptions happen with very gifted players or teams that are so bad that anything is good. Here, I imply that Toronto really needed help hence why Ten played right away.  
> \- Calder Memorial Trophy, is awarded to the best rookie of the league.  
> \- The NHL doesn't have out players currently.  
> \- Hockey players have to wear suits before a game. It's a rule, they enter the arena with a suit which is the ongoing joke between Johnny and Ten.  
> \- Hockey has nicknames. Everyone is called by one so I gave every NCT member one: Yuta is Nazer from Nakamoto, Mark is just Marksy, Junwoo is Snoopy, Sungchan is Sunny, Jaemin is Nanas, Jisung is Nuggs. For real players, I used mostly nicknames to avoid the searchability :P  
> \- Also, hockey players are men of routines and they eat balanced and healthy. I didn't add this but they also have a lot of superstitions  
> \- Mitch and Matts Fedora Look [Here](https://images.app.goo.gl/b8KJCbp9Z21LtB3R7). It's tragic.  
> \- Same duo singing [Livin On A Prayer](https://youtu.be/EbbCqqjnRIY)  
> \- Check is basically a deck: getting hit against the boards or just in the middle of the ice and players just take the damn hit. Is harsh. Refer to this [image](https://images.app.goo.gl/cpsafBGtdzJGcUec9)  
> \- I have a video to explain what happens to Mark. It's not graphic and doesn't involve blood but it's an injury still, so you can skip it. [McDavid's Collarbone Injury](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXGHW9OcNoA&ab_channel=SPORTSNET) is what I used as reference.  
> \- Bye-week is a break that hockey players have between January and February.  
> \- Ten panicking about a baby? That happened to Mitch and Matts too, you can see that [here](https://images.app.goo.gl/UVVTRRgtXXPXeGF77)  
> \- Johnny's gift is Chicago's captain signed Jersey. He's one of the most popular players.  
> \- During a fansign, Ten said that his name comes from นกกระเต็น (nok-kra-ten) known as the Kingfisher.  
> \- In the NHL, Ten goes with Ten Lee but in reality, Thai players use their real full name.  
> \- Other NCT members are in the NHL because this fic isn't about being realistic bro. Sicheng is in Pittsburgh and he's friends with Ten  
> \- The epilogue is set one year and two months after the confession.  
> \- Johnny's journalist struggles are based on true sad stories  
> \- If you're also a hockey fan and think, hey this sounds like Toronto, I have news for you (it is, I just added Kpop and it's like fifteen years in the future idk) 
> 
> If you need explanation about anything else, have some questions, feel free to ask! please keep supporting my career as not-really-jobless fanfic writer by giving kudos, commenting or sending me cool journalist jobs that actually pay!
> 
> if you like Kpop, danmei and don't mind a lot of screaming, you can follow me on twitter @ [srendiipity](https://twitter.com/srendiipity)
> 
> thanks for reading!


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